


The visions of the Gnawed

by Rinusagitora



Series: MonProm V:tM AU [5]
Category: Monster Prom (Visual Novel), Vampire: The Masquerade
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Magic, Gen, Prophetic Dreams, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29837415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rinusagitora/pseuds/Rinusagitora
Summary: Vicky suffers nightmares. Nightmares she shouldn't be having in the first place.
Series: MonProm V:tM AU [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2155839





	The visions of the Gnawed

**Author's Note:**

> Vocab
> 
> Shovelhead- a term used to describe a vampire who has undergone a particular form of Mass Embrace employed by the Sabbat.
> 
> Sabbat- The Sabbat is a loose organization of Cainites who reject the Traditions. Unlike the Camarilla, the Sabbat believes in the Antediluvians and Caine. Also known as the Sword of Caine, as they believe they will be the army Caine will use to destroy the Antediluvians once Gehenna arrives.
> 
> Haven- the residence and intimate domain of a vampire, where they slumber during the day and may labor during the waking night.
> 
> Kindred- a term designated to the vampiric race as a whole, or it may refer to only a single vampire.
> 
> Tremere- vampiric sorcerers that wield the supernatural power of their past as a hermetic house, though they became vampires through treachery and artifice.
> 
> Camarilla- the largest of vampiric sects, a loose organization which ostensibly represents and protects all vampires by enforcing and promulgating the Masquerade.
> 
> Bloodhunt- an order given by a Camarilla official, calling for the destruction of another vampire.
> 
> Barony- the land held by a very powerful and influential Kindred, called the Baron.
> 
> Baron- a title used by the Anarch Movement. By its simplest definition, a baron is the Anarch Movement’s equivalent of a Prince.
> 
> Jyhad- the "eternal struggle" for dominance between Methuselahs (ancient Kindred, possibly including the Inconnu) and the surviving Antediluvians. It is a subtle conflict which is fought in the everynight interactions of younger vampires, most of whom are entirely unaware they are being controlled and used as pawns.
> 
> Thaumaturgy- closely guarded form of blood magic practiced by the vampiric clan Tremere.
> 
> Lasombra- proud nobles who command the very essence of darkness and shadow — to the point of worshipping it, some say.
> 
> Masquerade- an organized campaign enforced by Kindred society (mainly by the Camarilla), to convince people that vampires do not exist.
> 
> Coterie- a group of vampires who have banded together for a common purpose. Typically, they choose to band together on their own, under the belief that safety lies in numbers.
> 
> Nagaraja- a bizarre bloodline of flesh-eating vampires, feared by Kindred on all sides of the Jyhad.
> 
> Gnawed- Not every mind is strong enough to withstand the curse of Malkav and still function (in a fashion). The Gnawed are those Malkavians that have been deemed nonfunctional through the madness transferred through the Embrace. Most are catatonic or howling idiots, unable to function in Kindred society.
> 
> Vitae- archaic term for vampire blood.
> 
> Gehenna- Gehenna is the Kindred eschaton. It is the time when the Antediluvians will rise from their slumbers and devour their descendants.
> 
> Antediluvian- a vampire of incalculable power, thirteen of whom survived the Biblical Deluge, and who are usually considered to be the founders of the thirteen clans.
> 
> Final nights- the nights before the coming of Gehenna and the end of vampires.
> 
> Final Death- a term used by vampires to refer to permanent death, as opposed to torpor or their first death as part of the Embrace.
> 
> Torpor- a term used to describe the state of deep slumber that vampires enter into for prolonged periods of time.

She was surrounded by an oppressive darkness. Was she a shovelhead, doomed to dig her way out of a shallow grave and become fodder for the Sabbat? Was she captured by hunters and tied with a tarp?

Was there a stake in her chest, only narrowly missing her heart?

She palpated her chest, free of stakes, and reached up above her. Her hands came to a cushy interior of silk.

Was she in a casket?

Vicky felt fear.

Was she found slumbering in her Haven, ruled dead, and buried?

Her hands slammed against the lid. "Help," she squealed, her chest tight, "help. Help! Help me!" Vicky slammed her fists against it. It didn't even rattle. Only muted thumps from her banging. "Somebody, please help me! Get me out of here! Get me out!"

\---

Vicky's eyes opened. She bolted from her bed and fell onto the floor, shrieking like her eyes were plucked out. The stainless steel table toppled over with a crash, reverberating off the walls.

Bracing herself on the floor, she sat on her legs and looked around. She was still in her Haven. Was that a dream?

Did Kindred even dream?

Vicky righted the table and looked around. Her skin was covered in a thin film of blood- she was so scared she was sweating.

Did Kindred even fucking dream? Never before did Vicky dream. Whispers, epiphanies, but nothing visual. Nothing like that.

The wheels landed on the floor. Vicky heard something clatter onto the linoleum. She crouched and retrieved something odd. A piece of wood, stripped of bark, with thirteen knots. It was wet with blood.

Vicky whimpered. She immediately checked the door. Locked. The windows still nailed shut. Her mind raced. What the fuck was that? And how did someone break into her Haven?

She paused midstep. The Tremere, and by extension, the Camarilla.

Someone needed to be told. Vicky pocketed the fetish and ran from her Haven. It was still light outside, but twilight made it easier to stick to the shadows, avoiding the vestiges of burning rays.

Vicky holed up behind the bar. She held her legs and rocked. 

Was she found? Was the bloodhunt ongoing? Would the Vegas Camarilla stop until they found her? Would she be staked and left to sunrise?

If she had a heart, would it fail because of her fear?

The door opened. Vicky vanished and peered over the counter. It was Amira and Vera. Vicky's Obfuscation was cut short and she raced to them. Vera caught her by her shoulders.

"Vicky, what the fuck?"

"I had the most terrible dream, and I found this in my Haven! Under my bed!"

Vera peered at the wooden fetish Vicky presented. She frowned. "It's nothing I recognize," she explained. "I'll give some Tremere I know a call. I doubt they'll give you anything substantial, given how they hoard their magic, but they might give you why it could've been made, and that could give you a lead." She turned to Amira then. "Accompany her."

Amira nodded. "Of course." 

He fetched a towel from behind the bar and wiped off Vicky's skin. "You're covered in blood..." he remarked.

"I-I was so scared, I started sweating."

"I see." Amira hummed. "Let's get you washed up when Vera finishes, then we can check this shit out. Give you some dignity before we see those witches."

Vicky nodded. "Thank you. You're all such good friends."

He shrugged. "This Barony is mostly made of misfits like you and me, thanks to the Baron. He's more like a father to many of us. Jyhad isn't as extreme here because of it."

"I see." Vicky sniffed. She was grateful for that. The Camarilla was so cut-throat, so self-serving. It was like treading rapids there, and all she got out of it was her sire assassinated and existential fear.

Some minutes later, Vera returned. "I have to stay here. But some Tremere is willing to meet us."

"And they're willing to go against the fucking Camarilla?" Amira snorted. "Sounds like a trap."

Vera crossed her arms. "I never said to trust them. But I don't have any better ideas. God knows the Tremere cling to power in the Camarilla for self-preservation. An additional safety net to hide their Thaumaturgy."

"O-okay. I can see them," Vicky said. Who knows. They might be the very ones behind it.

Amira sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Okay. Where are we meeting them?"

"Parthi Park an hour from now. There are three of them. Hope and Joy are Tremere. The third, named Faith, is Lasombra. Don't expect the area to be cleared, however. It is a public park. The Masquerade holds."

They nodded.

When they came to Parthi Park, Amira and Vicky took a seat beside one another. He leaned back and kept an eye out with a cigarette between his lips.

Vicky sniffed. "Do you know these guys?" she asked.

"I know of them, and I've seen Faith with Polly over the years. They're not a part of my coterie, though."

She smiled. "How opportune then."

"Hardly. I'm not interested in politics and coteries and shit. I get why they're needed, but they're a pain. I don't think I'd give a Tremere the time of day anyway. They're creepier than Nagaraja and suck Cammy dick on top of it."

"Point taken."

Amira said, "In your shoes, though, I'd consider it. You're... feeble. All due respect. Feeble and unhinged. Almost to the point of being Gnawed. You need all the help you can get."

Vicky scowled. "I don't trust people Vera and Polly don't. I can't have people I don't trust in my coterie."

"I get that," he replied. "Just know we may not be around forever."

Vicky shook the memory of her dream. Of imagining Vera or Polly or Amira underground and scratching at a coffin.

It gave her goosebumps.

From the shadows emerged a trio of women. Witches. Vicky stood. "Hi... are you Joy, Hope, and Faith?"

"Ironic names for Kindred, no?" said the woman in the center. Height-wise, she was unimpressive, but otherwise gorgeous, with full lips painted black, and even fuller thighs.

Nonetheless, Vicky nodded to them. "Shalom."

Their company smiled at Vicky. "It's rare to find Kindred who cling to their old faith."

"I'm not a very good Jew," she replied. 

"No matter," she smiled. "I'm Joy. These are Hope," Joy gestured to her right, where a small woman stood, black hair cut short, "and Faith." To her left was a tall, slender woman with hair white as snow and thick glasses. They nodded to Vicky and Amira.

"I must cut to the chase, however. Time is of the essence."

Vicky pulled the fetish from her pocket. The blood was drying by that time, and she presented it to them.

Joy took hold of it, delicately balancing it between her fingers, tasting the blood. "A wooden artifact covered in vitae, shaved, thirteen knots..." Her head cocked. "Hope, you're more familiar with ritualism. What do you make of it?"

"Easy. It's devoted to the thirteen clans." Hope was passed the fetish. She glanced at the bottom. Her eyebrows raised. "Interesting."

"What is?" Amira asked.

"A crown is carved on the bottom."

"What does that mean?"

Hope said, "It could be used to influence visions, manipulating the blood the right way."

"Then why is there a crown carved on it?" Vicky asked.

"I have a theory," Faith chirped. "There are Gehenna cults, Kindred who seek to cause the Final Nights." She held up the fetish. "This wasn't just meant to influence visions. This connected you to the Antediluvian."

Amira frowned. "The Antediluvians who haven't met Final Death are in torpor.

"Yeah," Vicky said. "And my nightmare... my nightmare was violent. Trying to escape a coffin."

"A silk-lined sarcophagus?" Faith asked.

Vicky's heart thumped. "How did you know that?"

In perfect unison, the mages said, "We know things."

"See things,"

"hear things,"

"feel things." Joy splayed her hand in front of her face. Blood, glowing like embers, made a web between her fingers. "The blood gives us many gifts, Vicky. You need only to learn."

Vicky understood why Amira disliked Tremere. They were creepy.

Amira said, "How do we trust y'all aren't part of the cult? The Camarilla doesn't believe in this shit."

"We are Kindred first, foremost, and lastly," Joy replied. "Our only allegiances are for self-preservation. You know that well, don't you?"

Her chest squeezed as she thought back to her escape from the Camarilla, and her arrival to the Barony. If she hadn't sided with the Barony, would she have been executed?

What a frightening thought.

Vicky bowed her head. "What now? Why me?"

"Your visions are famous. Someone may be reaching out for help. Who, I haven't the slightest, but that's the most rational conclusion." Joy folded her arms. "We're keeping the fetish regardless."

"Take it away." Far away. Vicky didn't want it. All she wanted was to board up her home.

They bid their farewells. Amira guided Vicky back to Vera's club.

And Vicky felt dread for the coming nights.


End file.
